[2] He is best known for his solo acoustic fingerstyle guitar work, but he is also a flatpicker and autoharp player who performs and records with dobro, mandolin, mandocello, bouzouki and six-string banjo.
[2] He has been a full-time musician since 1976, and has released 25 recordings on the Woodpecker label, containing nearly 500 tracks of original, traditional and contemporary acoustic music.
Reid won the 1981 National Fingerpicking Guitar competition and the 1982 International Autoharp contest and has performed over 6,000 concerts in most of the fifty states and a number of European countries.
All of Reid's recordings feature extensive use of a number of types and nearly two dozen configurations of partial capo.
It was done with a beta version of Scribe software, a Xerox Alto computer (the predecessor to the Apple Macintosh) and a prototype Diablo laser printer.
He was also the first artist to endorse the Taylor Guitar brand,[4] and has been involved with a number of instrument and equipment manufacturers, helping to design and stage-test gear for modern acoustic musicians.